The Lord of the Harvest

I’m generally not one to talk about how the Lord spoke to me or told me to do this or that. I tend to believe that He speaks to us through the Scriptures, through giving us godly wisdom, etc. But there have been a few times in my Christian life when I can say that He gave me special insight into a question I was facing. He didn’t speak to me in an audible voice, but more often than not, he brought what seemed to be disparate circumstances or disparate thoughts together in my mind and heart in such a way that new insight was gained.

I say that because something like this happened to me a few days in regard to internet evangelism.

I’ve been trying for a couple of months to find a believer to whom I could outsource web development projects for my for-profit business (Hesed Interactive - I hesitate to include the link because that site is in woeful need of a redesign!). The purpose of the for-profit business is to support the ministry of Strategic Digital Outreach (writing and teaching about digital evangelism, consulting with churches and ministries about their use of the web, etc.). My hope has been to find someone to whom I can outsource web development projects at a lesser rate than I would charge (most likely because they live in an area of the world where web development costs are lower than they are here in Santa Cruz, California - not too far from Silicon Valley and the rates for web development reflect that location!).

I also want to use that person to help with some of the evangelistic web projects I envision launching in the next one or two years. Some of these have sensitive aspects, and so I am definitely wanting to find a believer to whom I can outsource work.

It has been a bit discouraging, though, as I have had trouble finding an appropriate person. I have done some initial research into finding someone in Eastern Europe. I have thought about using someone in areas of Canada or the United States where web development rates are not as high. I have thought about using students from our local Christian college. But so far, I haven’t been able to find someone. I have searched on the web. I have made contact with at least one website owner in Croatia, asking them to refer me to their designer. I have contacted a Croatian national here in the States on an internship to see if she might know someone. All to no avail.

While I was thinking about these difficulties a few days ago, though, the Lord brought to mind a verse of Scripture which I haven’t thought of for quite awhile. It was Luke 10:2 --

And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

What in my mind and heart had been two disparate concepts a few days ago (not sure why they were - seems obvious now) suddenly were inextricably entwined. If I want to find a believer to whom I can outsource web development projects, I should not be just using typical internet searching techniques, networking, etc. to find someone. Because I’m not really looking for a simple web developer. I am looking for a laborer for the Lord’s harvest.

So I should be beseeching the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Into His harvest on the web. Puts my search in a whole different perspective.

In a few months, I’m going to be teaching a seminar on internet evangelism in one of our local churches. My prayer will be that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into His harvest from among those who attend the seminar.

For now, I’m going to stop here, but I think I’ll have more thoughts on this in a subsequent post. Any thoughts from our readers?

Posted by on 12/11/04 at 10:02 PM

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You may be interested in reading these articles which enumerate core principles of the strategy we advocate:

Effective Church Websites For Emerging Generations
Investigating the various ways in which a church's website can be targeted toward unbelievers in a church's local community.

A Strategy For Local Internet Outreach
How can the internet be used for evangelism and outreach while maintaining an environment of authentic Christian community?

Flawed Follow Up Or A Flawed Philosophy of Evangelism?
The ease with which we can “share the gospel” online can actually short-circuit the God-ordained process by which unbelievers are brought to faith.

Should We Include A Gospel Presentation On Our Websites?
Should conversion be our immediate goal in our internet evangelism efforts?

A Strategic Opportunity For The Church
A proposed strategy in which a church would use short video profiles of members of their congregation to entice unbelievers in their local area to consider the value of a local congregation’s ministry in their own lives.

2 John 12
Is there something incomplete about digital communication?

Fri, October 10, 2008 at 06:19 pm
Frank : savoring the start of a four-day weekend, looking forward to a great Time Out

Tue, October 07, 2008 at 08:13 pm
Frank : wishing that the spin doctors would have an ounce of honesty and integrity.

Sat, October 04, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Frank : winding down after a long Saturday's work on things of eternal value.

Sun, September 28, 2008 at 11:44 am
Frank @GregAtkinson my daughter is a goalkeeper - nothing quite like being a goalkeeper's parent!

Wed, September 24, 2008 at 09:55 pm
Frank : back home after a high school back-to-school night, evaluating high schools for next year

When the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association wanted to use the internet to promote their city festivals, they turned to Strategic Digital Outreach. Read more ....

Quick Contact Info

T: 831.461.1183
F: 831.461.1184
AIM: strategicdigital
ICQ: strategicdigital
Yahoo: strategicdigital
MSN: strategicdigital@hotmail.com

Web Development
Designwise Studios
DirectSteps
RockBeatsPaper
SparrowStyle
Turtle Interactive

Content Management
Expression Engine

Web Hosting
DreamHost

Email Management
Constant Contact

We work with several different organizations in exploring ways in which digital means can be used to reach an increasingly digital world. Some of these organizations are more traditional clients. Some are friends. All are our partners in the gospel (1 Corinthians 3:9). Invariably, we learn as much from them as they do from us. Here is a sampling:

David & Linda Arzouni
Assemblies of God missionaries to West Africa, based in Mali (the land of Timbuktu).

Assemblies of God
The Northern California and Nevada District, based in Sacramento, California.

India Prayer Drive
A 21-day prayer drive through the nation of India.

IreneDias.com
Although the suffering they face is severe, this is not a story of despair, but of an incredible faith and even more of an incredible God who sustains His followers with lavish grace, extravagant kindness, and unrelenting love.

Luis Palau Evangelistic Association
Proclaiming the Lord's Good News to the millions of people who have yet to respond to the Gospel.

Sacred Ink
Joyfully declaring the gospel to the tattoo subculture.

Santa Cruz Bible Church
Their evangelism department focuses on marketplace ministries.

ShareFest Santa Cruz County
Churches in Santa Cruz County, California join together to become a bridge from the church to the community through work projects designed to bless the community.

TimeOut Conference
Enabling a deeper relationship with God and more effective relationships with people.

Wake Up! Santa Cruz
Presenting the claims of Christ to the business community in Santa Cruz, California.

These are projects which we have initiated (either individually or as members of a team) in our efforts to use digital means to spread the gospel:

MissionEquip
MissionEquip.com was established to provide resources to missionaries and short-term missions teams traveling worldwide.

ChristianCruz
ChristianCruz.com is a localized portal for believers living in Santa Cruz County, California.

Prodigal God
ProdigalGod.com, a work in progress, is designed to provide biblical instruction to the wider body of Christ through the use of video teaching segments and written articles.

Christian Screen Savers
ChristianScreenSavers.com offers a selection of high-quality, inexpensive Christian screen savers which reflect biblical themes. Proceeds from the sale of these screen savers are used to support the work of Strategic Digital Outreach.

Blogs I Read

Adventures Of A Web Evangelist
The Appian Way
BetaChurch.org
BlogMinistry
BlogRodent
Boyink Interactive
Carpe' Digital
Christian Web Trends
Church Beauty
Church Communications Pro
Church Marketing Sucks
ChurchTechToday
Church Website & Blog Ideas
digital.leadnet.org
Digital Ministry
The Digital Sanctuary
e-vangelism.com
Effective Church Web Sites
Effective Web Ministry Notes
Equip Blog
Evotional
GodBit
Goodmanson
Gospelcon
Heal Your Church Website
If Jesus Had A Website
Leave It Behind
MicroExplosion
Outside The Box Ministry
Sacred Digital
So You Want A Church Website?
The Ultimate Issue
Web Evangelism Issues

The Lord of the Harvest

Blogs I Read

More Blogs & Sites